Vladimir Putin Ranked Most Powerful Person In The World By Forbes

04/11/2015 20:16
|
Updated
04 November 2015

150

Paul Vale
Middle East-based journalist, former editor for HuffPost in New York and London

Vladimir Putin has been named by Forbes as the most powerful person in the world -- for the third year running. The former KGB operative beat American President Barack Obama, who placed third, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who came in second.

“In October, he bombed ISIS forces in Syria and then met face-to-face with President Assad, making the US and NATO look weak in the region” the magazine wrote of its winner.

The 73-person list also featured Pope Francis (4), Chinese leader Xi Jinping (5) and philanthropist Bill Gates (6). The only ranked Briton was Prime Minister David Cameron, who appeared eighth behind Janet Yellen, chair of the US Federal Reserve.

Current Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump was ranked seventy-second on the list. North Korean despot Kim Jong-un came in forty-sixth.